Just trying to do some clean up on my computer....

and while archiving some of my photos came across some of these nice pictures of when Kurtis and I took the kids out to the Living History Farm in Des Moines for the day. These were taken in mid July around Jessica's birthday I believe. This would of been about 3 months before Jessica's wedding. We had a wonderful time, it is really pretty out there. Should make a nice place for Jennifers wedding in September.

Nothing too earth shaking to report tonight. Kurtis is off to his Monday night sales meeting, so I am doing some office work. I have to meet with Roberta Bowie tomorrow evening to help he put together flyers and information on the Wildflower Walk the Garden Club is putting on with the Cedar County Historical Society. I know, I know, Im suppose to be done with them, but this is something that was planned a year ago, and I made the commitment then. The fact that it has to do with flowers and such makes it ok. I really don't think it will amount to too much.

Well, back to the mundane...until next time...MOM

Oh, "Please Dear" push me just one more time!! I love this guy, always willing to be silly and award me with lots of special "blog" most embarassing moments!! Glad he doesn't read my blog..I may get shut down!!

Here's a sun-shiny one of Jennifer pausing among the wildflowers on the Gazebo at Living History Farms. She loves her picture taken just like I do.

Oh, the young couple snuggling so sweetly. If you look real close you can see Kurtis on the right edge weighing them on the scale. This was in July 2004, 3 months prior to the wedding.

Its just to blah outside today...I just want to sleep!

I could just crawl into to bed and sleep today, and as a matter of fact that is exactly what Kurtis is doing right now....but me? oh know, I have to keep going!

Kurtis and I went to maquoketa to a antique show this morning, it was really nice, but the crowds were unreal! Lets see, we did make a couple of purchases. I bought a antique pickled egg jar....yeah, thats what I said, an antique pickled egg jar. It is really neat, it holds about 3 gallons, has a ceramic shelf in in with cutouts for the eggs and probably weighs 15 lbs or so....what you might call an "unique collectible" We also bought about 6 more pieces of McCoy pottery, the dealer there kind of specializes in McCoy and made us a good deal on several pieces.....just what we need!! We had a nice little lunch at Dawns Cafe in Maquoketa and came on home.

I have promised to help Roberta Bowie put on a wildflower walk this spring for the State Federated Garden Club, so I suppose I should work on the flyers that I have to take to a meeting I have with her Tuesday, you know, I just think I have gotten myself out of these organizations, then I open my big mouth and here I am again....but at least this has to do with gardening and she promises there will be nice plants on sale that day....so Im game!!

Not much to report today, so until next time....MOM

Mmmmmm..can almost smell the scent in the air..I think that is some white Loosestrife in the background and not sure what the tall white blooms are in the back ground.

This must be a picture from 2005 after Adam and Elizabeth had their last garden, this is Larry and Kurtis checking out the bounty. I think Larry is digging for some potatoes (Viking brand) if I remember right.

I AM SO EMBARASSED! I have left you staring at my Toilet!!!

I can't believe I have left you staring at my toilet since Monday afternoon! I have been getting home kind of late all week and haven't taken the time to update my blog, for that I apologize. Just hope I dont get the flu anymore all winter and that I dont have to resort to such tacky materials as a photo of our la'trine.
So, to try to make up for this obvious lack of taste, tonight I am going to celebrate the coming of spring....now don't go and ruin it by saying something stupid like....My god women, don't you know it is still only January?? Hell, no..it was 62 degress today, so I am closing my eyes and thinking it is more like mid March. It was all I could do this afternoon when I got home, to not go in the greenhouse and scrounge through last years garden seeds to come up with a package of the classic "cherry Belle" radishes. I even scratched around the soil a bit and think it would of been just prime for scattering a few seeds out there, but I didn't.
It's amazing the effect a little sunshine and warmer temperatures can have on a persons attitude, and I'm ready for something positive. Wednesday Kurtis and I had our yearly physicals with Dr. Greg Bozek and needless to say it was a bit hard on my ego. Other than the usual uncomfortable items that have to be addressed at a physical, I received orders to go have a mammogram and a colonoscopy. I also was given what Dr. Bozek calls his "standard lecture of recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack in middle aged women" Talk about depressing!!! Next came the shattering questions "Have you noticed any indications of menopause?" I quickly replied "NOPE, Not ME!!" What a liar!! We discussed my aggrevation with my dry skin, losing hair, greying, foot problems......oh, and one of his most flatering observations........"Do you have any plans to have those moles removed?????" For Christ Sake have some heart!!! So, I left with my prescritions for Diabetes, my blood pressure medicine, appointment at Mercy for the damn Mammogram and just a promise that I will at some time make a appointment for a Colonoscopy........maybe the morning before I have the F______ moles removed!!
So, as you can see I really am pushing spring...I have to, I may not make it through February!!!!
Until next time.....MOM

Oh boy, a can of worms..a fishing pole and the sun beaming down on your face..heaven. This is the creek that runs through the Geller Preserve..the sound is as pretty as the scene. Actually now that I sit and look at this, it reminds me of a time when we were kids and Wayne decided to try to catch the frog...memories of him riding naked on the tractor home comes to mind. Oh my! The Kofrons are here!! How embarassing!

Ummm..now this puts you in mind of spring..I took this picture last spring during the Cedar County Historical Society Geller Preserve flower walks. I can just smell the cracker and egg and this big boy in the frying pan!!

Yeah, now that's more like it..time to say goodbye to the dismal brown winter and think thoughts of spring!!

The old saying, "Open mouth, insert foot" applies today....

Apparently I have spent too much time lately bragging about not having so much as a sniffle or runny nose......WEll, I still dont have a sniffle or runny nose, but there is another part of my anatomy that has not fared so well in the past 24 hours. I think the photo kind of says it all....oh, and I apologize to those of you with a delicate stomach.
I woke up about 3:00 this morning not feeling too good and by 7 or so I thought I was a little better so I ran off to work as normal. I can't say I was really really sick, but about 11:00 or so it was apparent things were deteriorating, so I came home. I will skip the rest of the details.
I think I am feeling better now, and hopefully after a nights sleep, it will have vacated the premises (me). I slept most all the afternoon, and I am still tired..Kurtis has left to go to his Monday night sales meeting, so I am going to bed. Here's to a better week ahead.
Until next time.....MOM

OK, this is about the best way I can think of to sum up the activies of the day. Somestimes a picture "IS" worth a thousand words. In this case, words you really dont want to hear.

Now, isn't this so sad? Struck down in the prime of her life.

I dedicate my Blog today to a Marsha update......

In keeping with my strict instructions to check out the farm house and the demolition within, I took time out of my busy schedule today (sounds kind of pompus doesn't it) to go over the farm and get some pictures.
The first thing that hits you when you walk in, is how incredibly small the place looks now. Larry and company have stripped all plaster, carpet and celings out. The tile under-neath is shot. It is all buckled and lots of it is missing. It sure brought back memories to me of sweeping that brown stuff. The prodecure involved starting back at the furthest corner from the kitchen and "collecting" all the debris until you worked yourself to the waste basket in the kitchen. Along the way, it didn't matter is you encountered a large foreign object, you just kept sweeping and eventually deposited it into the waste basket.
The wood that was under the plaster looks really good, Larry said there are some areas that are going to have to be straightened, but other that that its in good shape. Some of Dad's repairs are a little rough, but they will be covered. The poor man did what he could with what materials he had I guess.
The other thing is that we have gotten about 4 inches of snow, so your gardens are nice and tucked in under a blanket of snow again. I dont know how long its going to last because it is suppose to be towards 40 again all week. But for now, its there.
Oh, and remember the poor chickens I mentioned that were on our road Friday? Well, it has not ended in a very pleasant way. When I came home last night after dark, a Hawk was making a late night snack out of one, the others are in the road ditch covered with snow. I dont know who would of dumped 5 chickens, but I guess it can be a very cruel world. Where is the local chapter of PPCTC when you need them anyway???? (People for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chickens) Ha!
Well, I will close for now.....need to put a pork roast in the oven.Until next time.....MOM

I took this picture to show your hydrangea are all nice and snuggled in again, we got about 4 inches of snow..they look quite content.

Looking from the garage walk in door through the living room into the dining room.

This is looking from the kitchen out towards the road. Larry left the porch add on section alone, it is already drywalled

This is looking towards the bathroom door, the short stub wall used to have the phone on it.

Oh the smell of spring was in the air!!

Glory Days!! I dont believe I have ever seen it get up to 60 degrees in January in Iowa. It was just plain beautiful today. I didn't get around to getting some lunch until about 1:30, then it was just down right tough to go back inside and stay there...but due my dying dedication to Lynch's Plumbing...I did it! I'v just about got everything balanced and ready to turn over to the tax man. I requested final transaction registers from the bank to balance accounts, waited two hours for them to fax them to me...but they never did come..so tomorrow back to the phone again. Oh the life of a bean counter!
I had an interesting experience on my way home from work today. When rounding the final corner towards our house, there standing in the middle of the road was five nice big plumb black and Buff Orphington chickens. Now, where do you suppose those young ladies came from? I slowed down my vehicle and crept up to them slowly...they continued to scratch and peck at the gravel....hmmm I went around them and went home. I then had to go over to Fa Benda's for a moment...so I approached the corner cautiously and yep, there they were again, still scratching and looking as though they belonged there. Hmmm a mystery, just ticked I didnt have my camera to shoot a nice picture..they really were cute. Damn, it just occured to me, had a been quick maybe I could of rounded them up and took them in to moms to put in with her chicken!
Now, I best get back to my project of the evening..I am collecting some recipes to be put in a new cookbook for fund-raising for St. Bridgets church. I'm also doing some for a new edition of the Cedar County Historical Society cookbook. As I was doing some research for these recipes I happen to come across my How Iowa Cooks, Cookbook and came across one of the submissions that my mother has in there...It is "Applesauce Meat Balls"...hmmm somehow I dont quite recall that as being a family favorite. I mean, Applesauce Meatballs......no I dont remember that one...Franco American Spaghetti and Meatballs..yea that one rings a bell...haha
Also, sorry no photos tonite..I need to go out on one of these nice days and get a new supply. Im ready for things to begin turning green..the dismal brown is growing old.
until next time......MOM

Just a nice day today....

Today was just a nice day like the days Kurtis and I used to have together once upon a time AKA: Before Scheels. We had several errands we had put off until he had a day off, and today we got them all done.
One of the important jobs was to secure the panel in my greenhouse that has come out several times since the small tornado wrecked havoc last summer. We finally got up there and with Kurts help put in a couple of small braces to hold it in place. Oh, now I am ready to begin seed starting with the weather turns. I have several plants in there as an experiment to see if they winter over, and I see that several of them are sprouting (hosta, mums and a couple of Martha Stewart Geraniums) I suspect the next round of freezing weather will probably do them in though, so I covered them to give them a fighting chance. Life can be tough for plants ya know.
One of the other things Kurtis and I did was to plant about 150 tuplips and about 90 daffodils.......yeah, here we go again...the January bulb planting!! They probably wont do anything, but if nothing else we are providing good forage for the squirrels and moles. We really arent out anything but our labor if they dont grow, the bulbs were free.
Just a nice day spent doing odds and ends and it was kind of nice... I miss not having Kurtis around each day to help out....but I guess it makes me appreciate when he is home.
Until next time....MOM

The old barn with the upper hay opening. Kind of neat how vines have grown up the high lines to the door.

Shot of the neighbors wood supply....wish it were ours. This is stored in an old granery..I just thought it was a nice pattern.

OK, so my last blog was a little hard on my Mother......

Yeah, maybe I took of couple of liberties in my last blog at my Mothers expense.....but you have to admit it "is" funny. Trust me, I have two daughters that each day grow a little closer to humiliating me at any moment too...we all have our own cross's to bear!
So, I will try to redeem myself with posting some nicer pictures of Mom's house and her precious little dog Lucy. You know, the nice thing is, that mom doesn't have a computer to see these silly goings on....so the secret's with us! Now, don't go and blab!!! To be honest, I did tell her I was going to put her on my blog....I believe her response was "oh gees, now I suppose everyone will know about the chicken". Well, I can't lie now can I?
I went to Cedar Rapids today to get my new glass's.....I do belive they are better. It always takes a day or two to get used to them, but they have to be an improvement over the 5-6 year old back up pair I was wearing. What a beautiful day it was!! I am just over-come with the desire to start planting seeds. I went in the greenhouse this afternoon and it is again about 90 degrees. It's just a shame it dives to freezing overnight. The bigger shame is that it would cost me a fortune,especially this year to try to heat it over night. A $1.99 six pack of peppers doesn't quite justify a $3-400.00 heating bill...or does it?
Sure wish Marsha was back, could sure go for a nice evening out at Hu-Hot tonight, Kurtis mentioned some Scheels folks went there yesterday, now I can't get it out of my mind. Speaking of eating..I made a special stop at K's Merchandise this afternoon to check out some exercising equipment.....ie: An ecliptical bike. You know, I might of almost bought one, but can you believe this???? Right where they have the equipment set up so you can hoist your fat ass up on the damn thing and give her a whirl......they have mounted a huge full spectrum mirror!!!!! Oh my god, I got myself all positioned, took a big breath of air for the shock my body was about to endure......took a look to the left, and just about had a full blown heart attack!!! What in the hell are these people thinking!!! I suppose they think if you can get a full body view of how bad of shape you are in you will run, not walk to the cash register and make a purchase.....well, Mr. Marketing 101...it didn't work on me!! I slid down.. and high tailed it out of the place!! It was not a pretty picture....and besides on top of everything else, I was not having a good hair day!!
So, until next time.....MOM

And here is little Miss Lucy...Mom says she likes me just fine...but she is "crazy" about Marsha.....easy MOM on my feelings!!

Flower garden on the wall in bathroom..kind of hard to get a picture of without lying down by the toilet.....no thanks.

One of the pictures I painted in mom's bathroom over the towel rack..I like bird house's can you tell?

When the FARM moves to the city.......

I am dedicating my blog this evening to my Mother and her new home in West Branch. As you can see from the first photo below, it is a very charming and quaint home. But, with all the beautiful furnishings, state of the art appliances, beautiful fireplace, etc etc....something was just missing! Well folks that problem has been resolved!!
You guessed it!! The chicken and rabbitt have arrived!! Well??? What do you expect? There was a delimma. Marsha had to go to Fort Dodge for three months and you just can't leave a rabbitt and chicken to fend for themselves....so you do what any self-respecting farm wife would do......you bring em to town!!
You have to admit, as for "having it made" these two couldn't have it any better! From the depths of the old guneia pig house with mice, no heat and an occasional bucket of corn.......they have arrived to radiant floor heat, kept at the optimum temperature and all the food needed for proper nutritional needs. Let me tell you, if I was to ever come back in re-incarnation, I want to come back as one of these two!!! Mom tells me that Henrietta is 12 years old, and the rabbit even older than that!! You would think with all the luxuries that stinking rabbit has come into, that the attitude would show some signs of improvement...but as I was trying to get a picture it continued to growl quite rudely at the lens.
So, you see...you can take the women out of the country, but you cant take the country out of the women. There is one concern......if by chance the chicken gets out of the cage and escapes into the neighborhood....I have instructed mom that she just turns her head the other way and says out loud "Oh my gosh, was that a chicken????? How on earth would that ever have gotten to West Branch!!!!" Also, there will be no "Eggs for Sale" signs allowed to be posted. I'm not prepared to have people I know asking me how my mothers chicken is getting along in the garage!!!! No Way!!
Until next time.....MOM

Front view of 113 Crestview Drive, West Branch Iowa. Cute as a bug isn't it?

This is the animal holding area in the new home. As you can see due to the high technical nature of the heating system installed in the garage, the optimum temperature can be held for long periods of time which encourages good coat growth and egg production. It has not however at this time improved the rabbits attitude!!!

Marsha, this is your Christmas Cactus...it has outdone itself in blooms!! Even this picture doesnt do it justice!

Yes, kids this is your grandma holding her newest pet to arrive in her new house. When one is faced with the delimma of what to do with an old chicken when no one is on the farm to care for it???? Naturally you do what is right, you bring it to the city....... I believe Mom was calling her Henrietta during this phot shoot.

A good time was had by all....

Well, everyone seemed to have a great time Sunday at Father Benda's log home. He had invited all his cousins to come over for dinner and merriment. As usual, there was alot of food and singing..the Benda's really enjoy their music.
Monday, I had my long awaited appointment with the University of Iowa orthapedics department. I made this appointment about 3 months ago thinking surely my feet problem would be better and I could just cancel it...well, that certainly wasn't the case. I saw Dr. Amendoula who is the orthaped assigned to the Iowa Football team. I tried as hard as I could to be impressed by that and all the tacky black and gold furnishings in the office, but it just didnt work. I looked around the waiting room to observe who his other patients were, you know...were they athletically fit, young, robust healthy people? Well, lets just put it this way.....I actually appeared to be one of the smallest youngest patients there.....I especially noticed the rather huge man dressed in coveralls sleeping in the corner......I felt so bad when they called his name and woke him up......
So, after about 4 hours of filling in questionaires, taking x-rays and seeing Dr. Amendoula the verdict was delivered......you have to have surgery. It turns out my pain really isnt coming from the bone spurs but rather from my achilles tendon which for some reason has turned to bone from my heel and up about 2 inches. The simple solution is the make a 6-8 inch incision from the back of my heel up my leg, remove the boney part and re-attach the tendon. 6-8 weeks in a cast, about 4 months of physical therapy and I should be in pretty good shape! The good news is no more cortisone injections...the bad news is I don't do crutches well. So, now I have to figure out what to do...at this point I have put the decision on hold........I have more important things to think of such as my greenhouse and gardening.....how do you get in a camper on crutches? You see what I mean?
So...until next time..I promise not to discuss my feet any more......MOM

Father Gene singing his heart out at the gathering for his cousins on Sunday January 8th.

Flourescent Lights...........$350.00
Potting Soil and Fertilizer......$50.00
Planting books and materials.....$100.00
A beautiful day in the Greenhouse........."Priceless"!

Ohhhh, I just can't tell you how much fun I had today in the greenhouse re-planting the beautiful Brugmansia I have raised from cuttings I took last fall. I had my whole morning all planned out, I laid out newspaper in the kitchen to begin the task on the counter tops. I went out the the greenhouse to get a dirt scoop (a very important tool) and was absolutely shocked to find it about 90 degrees or so ...so I moved the whole opearation out there. I had a ball!!! There just isn't any better therapy then working in dirt with the sun beaming in on you.......ohhhhhh, lifes simple pleasures. Now, I am completely obsessed with the overwhelming urge to fill in the blank lines on the order form from the seed catalogs! Of course I must get the order in right away, you just never know, some other SOB might just buy the last package and I would be left out in the cold.
Kurtis and I also had a very nice evening last night, we took Marsha out for her official celebration of her graduation. We dined at the India Cafe in Iowa City. Kurtis was just desperate for his favorite dish, the Goat Rogash. He did comment last night that he believes they use the neck bones for this dish (ummm) We also had the onion and garlic nann bread which is out of this world. We have to remember to invite Steve and Wayne the next time we go!!
Also, Jennifer and Jessica, Marsha asked me to give you a little heads up regarding your blog pages. She is leaving Sunday for Fort Dodge and will be there three months.......her life is going to be haning on a thin thread that will depend on the entertainment provided by these blogs.....so, you are to keep them updated on a more regular basis!! The challenge is on!
Well, I am off for another evening of entertainment, I am going to go to mass over at Mechanicsville, then Fa. Benda is taking about 10 of us out to Sutliff for supper. My husband is working till 10, so I'm going stagg. I had better get in the shower and get ready.
until next time.....MOM

Yep, that is what the thermomter says,,it was 100 degrees in my greenhouse today. I really dont think it was that hot, but in the corner where this is, with the sun shining on it thats what it read....These are my new little transplants I have raised in the house under lights...they are Brugmansia "Peach Halo" and "Whiskers"

Welcome to the year 2006....

Well we are well within the gates of the year 2006....and so far, so good. So far the year has started off with a bang for me. Today I went to the eye doctor only to find out my eyes are even worse then they were last year at this time...that equates to another pair of eye glasses....ca ching! $590.00! Friday I have to go back to the foot doctor to see how my bones spurs are progressing,,, and Monday I go to the University to get another opinion on my feet troubles! Gosh this year is really full of potential!!! I cant wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me! Enough of that crap....on to something more positive!
This morning I met with the contractor for the CCHS museum....I haven't been there for awhile and I was amazed to see that things are about done. It really looks nice inside..some carpet and tile, some trim and things are pretty much complete, almost makes me feel bad Im not president anymore.......well, not really. This really is going to be a nice thing for the society.
Since we don't seem to be able to get any sunshine in this state anymore, I think I will go do something to promote spring. I have several plants under lights here in the house that need re-potting because they have actually grown that fast. I think I will go work on them and pretend it is like mid May or so. Hmmm think postive think positive think positive. Until next time....MOM